How to create a custom currency format

[Robert Van Liew]

Hello,

I have some code that sets a number's format to match the currency symbol of certain countries.

However, I have one instance where I want to set a custom currency character set. Basically, if I do this:

NumberFormat nf = NumberFormat.getCurrencyInstance(Locale.US);

Then if I call that numberFormat, I can format a number to look like "$275"

But, how do I create a numberformat that would literally display like "(TTT)$275"? I'm currently using the Taiwan Locale as a placeholder, but I'd like to know how to make a custom format.

Current code is below:

private static HashMap localeMap = new HashMap(3);
    private static HashMap nfMap = new HashMap(3);
    private static NumberFormatter moneyEditFormatter = new NumberFormatter(NumberFormat.getNumberInstance());
    static {
        localeMap.put("USA", Locale.US);
        localeMap.put("UK", Locale.UK);
        localeMap.put("CAN", Locale.CANADA_FRENCH);
        localeMap.put("TTT", Locale.US);

        NumberFormat nf = NumberFormat.getCurrencyInstance(Locale.US);
        nf.setMinimumFractionDigits(2);
        nf.setMaximumFractionDigits(2);
        nfMap.put("USA", nf);

        
        nf = NumberFormat.getCurrencyInstance(Locale.UK);
        nf.setMinimumFractionDigits(2);
        nf.setMaximumFractionDigits(2);
        nfMap.put("UK", nf);


        nf = NumberFormat.getCurrencyInstance(Locale.CANADA_FRENCH);
        nf.setMinimumFractionDigits(2);
        nf.setMaximumFractionDigits(2);
        nfMap.put("CAN", nf);
        
        nf = NumberFormat.getCurrencyInstance(Locale.TAIWAN);
        nf.setMinimumFractionDigits(2);
        nf.setMaximumFractionDigits(2);
        nfMap.put("TTT", nf);

Thank you for your time!

[Paul Clapham]

I'm not sure whether it answers your specific question, but you might have a look at the API documentation for the Currency class, starting from where it says

Oracle wrote:Users can supersede the Java runtime currency data by means of the system property java.util.currency.data.

[Robert Van Liew]

Paul Clapham wrote:I'm not sure whether it answers your specific question, but you might have a look at the API documentation for the Currency class, starting from where it says

Oracle wrote:Users can supersede the Java runtime currency data by means of the system property java.util.currency.data.

Looking at this:

https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/util/Currency.html

I don't think that gives me information on what I'm trying to do - that cryptic explanation of the 'system' property, which I'm not even sure how to access, shows 3 values in the example that don't look anything like a currency symbol or formatting string.

[Paul Clapham]

It doesn't say anything about currency codes as far as I can see either. But I'm not clear on what you're trying to do. Are you trying to make a customized NumberFormat for an existing currency, or are you trying to make a new currency (not in ISO 4217 or whatever it is)?

[Robert Van Liew]

Paul Clapham wrote:It doesn't say anything about currency codes as far as I can see either. But I'm not clear on what you're trying to do. Are you trying to make a customized NumberFormat for an existing currency, or are you trying to make a new currency (not in ISO 4217 or whatever it is)?

I could do either.

This 'TTT' currency is actually conceptually representing US Dollars, but for a second entity in this application (rather than the 'main' business entity), so all I need to do is differentiate the display of money numbers from this second entity, using a custom format.

I am open to taking an existing currency, such as Taiwan, and hijacking it's behavior so that it displays like '(TTT)$' instead of the normal 'NT$' formatting of Taiwan.

Or, I could also as you suggest try creating a new currency/format, and using that

Whatever's easiest/best, I'm fine with using. But I don't know how to do either.

[Paul Clapham]

Maybe it's more of an intrusive solution than what you were looking for, but maybe Joda-Money might work for you?

[Robert Van Liew]

Paul Clapham wrote:Maybe it's more of an intrusive solution than what you were looking for, but maybe Joda-Money might work for you?

A friend forwarded me code that's perfect for what I need, if anyone else stumbles across this thread:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10536899/how-to-set-customize-currency-in-java